White Wishes
by PaperKat
Summary: Kurama's mother discovers his secret from an unlikely source. Complete.
1. Default Chapter

This fic was started as a dare by a friend of  
mine. He challenged me that I couldn't write a  
fic were the main characters didn't die horribly  
or get tortured. ^_^ The subject matter is due  
to the fact that I was born in Japan, and all the  
fairy tales I grew up knowing were the Japanese  
ones. My mother was telling me stories about the  
rabbit in the moon long before I knew who Sleeping  
Beauty was! Anyway, on with the story.  
  
  
White Wishes  
written by Kat Aubuchon  
edited by Windlily  
  
  
Shiori shook out the wet shirt she was  
holding with a loud snap that echoed off the low  
hanging fog in the yard. Once satisfied that all  
the folds were out of the pristine white garment  
she hung it on the line to dry. She looked down  
the clothes line at her early morning work and  
smiled with satisfaction. All the bed sheets and  
Shuuichi's white school shirts had been washed and  
hung along with her own aprons. It had taken her  
all morning after she had fixed Shuuichi's  
breakfast and sent him on his way to school, but  
now that it was finished she could sit back and  
enjoy the morning.  
  
Shiori smiled when she thought of the wonder  
that was her son. He had been her only comfort  
when his father died and was the one thing in this  
world that was truly hers. He tried so hard to  
please her all the time. The funniest thing was  
that all he had to do was wake in the morning and  
call her Mother in that soft voice of his and she  
would be happy. Even at this very moment he was  
at the school working on a project so that he  
would get the highest grade in the class.   
Shuuichi was a model student, his homework was  
always done ahead of time. He also made sure his  
red hair was always cut to the perfect length  
above his collar, and she made sure his uniform  
was always clean and pressed. Still, Shiori would  
have rather him stay home with her in the  
mornings, instead of going to school early.  
  
Sometimes Shiori wished that Shuuichi wasn't  
so serious all the time. She had never heard him  
talk about having any close friends at school and  
no children ever came or called looking for him.   
She hoped that now that he had started high school  
that he would find some friends, or maybe a girl  
friend. Sometimes he worried her with his quiet  
ways.  
  
It was still early and the sun was just  
barely making its way over the roof tops. Soon  
its light would find its way into her yard and  
dispel the dream like fog that was settled around  
her feet like a cool blanket. Shiori always loved  
to watch the earthbound clouds shrink back from  
the light. The mist would try and hide in the  
shadows, but the warmth of the sun always found it  
and sent home to where dreams slept.  
  
Shiori closed her eyes and listened to the  
silence around her, trying to hear the fog slip  
over the grass and the rocks. When she was  
younger she had sat in the woods and tried to hear  
the trees whisper or the streams sing, but she  
never could. She strained her ears until she  
could hear the beating of her own heart, but she  
still couldn't hear the fog.  
  
"Why do humans always wish for things they  
can not have, or hope to do things that are beyond  
their ability?" a smooth, green voice whispered  
across Shiori's ear.  
  
Shiori's eyes slowly crept open at the  
familiar tinkle of that soft voice. The mists  
that had once been just a thin cover over the dew  
damp grass was now a think carpet of wet, rolling  
waves. Shiori could no longer see the clothes  
line that had only been a few feet in front of  
her. She looked all around, but all she could see  
was the heavy whiteness that seemed to have  
swallowed her whole.  
  
"Byakko-sama?" Shiori asked.  
  
Her question was answered with a delicate  
laugher that reminded Shiori of the sea shell wind  
chime she had hanging at the front door. The fog  
swirled and gathered together in front of Shiori  
as tall, sweet smelling trees came in to the edges  
of her vision. She marveled at the large, waxy,  
blue-green leaves and the delicate pink flowers  
that swayed slightly and hung upside down on their  
long stems. Shiori knew now that she was no  
longer in her own backyard.  
  
A sudden strong wind began to push the mists  
away from the figure that was within. The air  
carried the sweet almond scent of the trees with  
it as it pulled at the white fog, but like cotton  
pulled across rough wood, the mist clung on the  
person within leaving trendals to wisp in the  
wind.   
  
This was only the third time she had seen the  
figure in front of her, but no one could forget  
someone like Byakko-sama. The first time had  
been when Shiori was only six, the second was the  
year before Shuuichi had been born. Shiori felt  
her knees become weak and then collapse beneath  
her. In the other two encounters this beautiful  
youko had never been this close to her. Shiori  
placed her head on the ground in homage to the  
spirit before her.  
  
"Byakko-sama," Shiori repeated, from her  
bowed position.  
  
Shiori stiffened in fright when she felt the  
silk of the bellowing white robes the youko wore  
touch the top of her head. Suddenly a hand passed  
through the long hair that curtained her face and  
velvet soft fingers grasped her chin. Shiori let  
the gentle hand pull her head up and was surprised  
to find the youko kneeling before her on the  
ground.  
  
The youko was dressed in soft white silk  
robes that had stalks of rice embroidered in  
emerald green silk on the hem and sleeves. Shiori  
hesitantly looked into the face of the fox spirit  
and was held captive by the gold brilliance of her  
eyes.   
  
Shiori had been too young the first time she  
had seen this youko to realize how truly  
magnificent she was, and the second time was so  
brief that she had thought that she had been  
dreaming. She had almost forgotten how wild and  
beautiful this youko looked with her snow white  
hair and fur and her crystal clear topaz eyes.   
Soft bangs hung into the youko's eyes, half  
shading them from her sight. On each side of the  
spirit's face were long locks that fell to the  
tops of her breasts and ended with a clutch of  
tiny gold bells that could barely be heard even  
though she was this close. The rest of the  
youko's hair was held together with ribbons that  
were the same golden topaz as her eyes.  
  
"Why do you insist on calling me  
'Byakko-sama'?" the youko asked as she used her  
other taloned hand to push Shiori's hair behind  
her ear.  
  
"If you wish to call me by a name I guess  
'Byakko' is as good as any. My true name would be  
too much for you to say, anyway," she sighed as  
she rocked back on her heels, away from Shiori.  
"But please leave the 'sama' off. We are old  
friends after all," Byakko said with a smile.  
  
Shiori still sat there gapping at Byakko with  
awe and wonder. The youko gave a delicate little  
snort and took both of Shiori's hands in her own.   
Byakko lifted the human's hands to her face and  
ran them over her cheek and neck.  
  
"I am flesh and blood, just like you are. I  
have a heart that beats in my breast just as you  
do," Byakko told her as she pressed Shiori's hand  
tighter to the base of her throat.  
  
Shiori could felt a strong pulse under  
Byakko's pale, creamy skin in a rhythm that was  
differently not human, but real all the same.   
Slowly Shiori's fright chilled hands warmed  
against Byakko's skin, and she gave a weak smile  
to the youko.  
  
"I'm sorry, Byakko-sa..." Shiori stopped when  
she saw the slight narrowing of Byakko's eyes,  
"Byakko," she corrected.  
  
"Sorry for what? Me scaring you to death,"  
Byakko asked with a grin and a twitch of her white  
furry ear.  
  
Shiori couldn't help and smile at the pure  
mischief that was behind that gentle grin. She  
gave a sigh of relief and pulled her hands from  
the youko's grip. Byakko gave her a nod of  
approval and offered her hand as she stood.   
Shiori looked at the offered hand and the sharp  
talons that could surly rip her skin open as  
easily as any knife and placed her own in it.  
  
"Why have you brought me here, Byakko? I  
thought that I would never see you again after my  
wish was made," Shiori asked as she stood beside  
the taller woman.  
  
Shiori became slightly alarmed when Byakko  
looked away, avoiding her eyes. Before she had a  
chance to ask the youko what was wrong, Byakko  
swept her hand towards the trees in front of them.   
To Shiori's astonishment they parted to reveal a  
smooth lake beyond.   
  
"I have brought you here to tell you about  
the son that I gave you. The one that you call  
Shuuichi," Byakko said without looking at her as  
she guided them to the crystal blue lake.  
  
Shiori followed close behind Byakko with her  
heart in her throat. She was terrified of what  
the youko had to say. The gravness in Byakko's  
voice scared her. Was Shuuichi sick? Was there  
something wrong with him that she didn't know  
about?  
  
Byakko stopped at the edge of the lake and  
sat on one of the thigh high boulders that were  
scattered along the shore. The rock was close  
enough to the lake that her long robe floated on  
its surface when she sat down. Shiori came to  
Byakko's side and looked at the youko's image on  
the mirror like surface of the water. Shiori was  
surprised to find that she didn't see the tall,  
slender woman reflected back at her, but the  
figure of a white fox with it's many tails wrapped  
around it's feet.  
=========  
end part one 


	2. 

"Shiori, when we first met I gave you one  
wish as a gift for helping my foolish daughter.   
You saved her from being discovered from others in  
your world when she was caught in that hunters  
trap," Byakko said quietly as she continued to  
look out over the lake.  
  
Shiori didn't have to be told the story she  
already knew. When she was six she had found a  
pale gold fox trapped in a snare in the woods  
behind her grandfather's home. Instead of telling  
anyone, she had sent the fox free. That night was  
the first time she had seen Byakko.  
  
"You could have wished for candy or toys or  
any of the meaningless things that comes to a  
child's mind when they are told they can have  
anything they desire. Instead you choose to hold  
on to your wish, saying you wanted to wait until  
you had something really special to wish for."  
  
Byakko finally turned to Shiori and gave her  
a sad little smile. Shiori could have sworn she  
saw tears in the youko's gold eyes, but Byakko  
looked back at the lake before she could be sure.   
  
"You wished for a child, and I granted that  
wish."  
  
Shiori felt the tears prickling behind her  
eyes as she remembered the bitter desperation that  
had taken her to the fox shrine. Shiori had five  
children wither and die in her womb before she  
remembered the wish the white youko had given to  
her. She remembered crying at the temple steps  
and the gentle mist that had surrounded her before  
Byakko had shown herself.  
  
Shiori had begged and pleaded with the fox  
spirit to give her a child. Byakko had only asked  
her once if she was sure that was what she wanted.   
Shiori had grabbed the hem of the youko's long  
robe and declared that she would do anything to  
have a child. Byakko had smiled and said that her  
wish would be granted and had disappeared.  
  
Byakko slid off the rock she was sitting on  
to stand in front of Shiori. The youko took  
Shiori's hand and locked her golden gaze with the  
human's.  
  
"Wishes come with a price, and wishes granted  
by foxes never come without a trick," Byakko told  
her as she ran her fingers over the scars Shiori  
had gotten when she had saved Shuuichi.  
  
"If your talking about this," Shiori said,  
indicating the scars, "I would do it again in a  
second."  
  
Byakko smiled and released Shiori's hand. "I  
know. That's why I choose you."  
  
Shiori gave her a puzzled frown that Byakko  
dismissed with a wave of her hand. "I'm getting  
ahead of myself. First I must tell you the trick  
I played on you."  
  
Byakko swept her hand over the lake and the  
water rippled. As the waves stilled an image  
formed on the surface. A male silver youko stood  
there holding a blood soaked whip made from a  
thorned vine. His light amber eyes were cruel and  
cold as he glared at the dying demon at his feet.   
The youkai reached his hand up toward the youko  
and the fox spirit just kicked it's head from it's  
shoulders with a humorless laugh.  
  
"This is your son. In this form he is know  
as Kurama," Byakko told her quietly.  
  
Shiori hugged her stomach and stumbled  
backwards until she felt the boulder behind her.   
She sat heavily on the stone and stared at the  
image in the lake. Kurama was rummaging through  
the youkai's clothing looking for something.   
Finally he found a bracelet around the demon's  
wrist. He didn't bother to unfasten it, just  
ripped it off the dead body. Shiori gaped with  
horror and disgust as she watched Kurama lick the  
blood from his fingers and the bracelet before  
putting it in his pocket.  
  
"This can't be Shuuichi," Shiori cried with  
horror. "This can't be my Shuuichi. He is a kind  
and gentle boy, not this cruel, heartless thing!"  
  
"Kurama and Shuuichi are one and the same  
person, Shiori. The soul that lives in your  
little boy is that of Kurama. You wished for a  
child and I gave you one."  
  
Shiori shook her head in denial of the words  
Byakko spoke. There was nothing about the silver  
youko that reminded her of her beloved son.   
Shuuichi would never hurt a soul if he could help  
it, he was always kind and considerate, he was  
gentle and loving, he was the perfect son. Too  
good to be true, she realized.  
  
"NO!" Shiori wailed as she picked up a stone  
from the ground and hurled it at the lake.  
  
The rock slipped quietly beneath the water  
without a splash, the image undisturbed. Shiori  
threw stone after stone into the lake. Small  
pebbles and sand jammed under her nails making  
them bleed as she dug in the ground for another  
weapon to launch.  
  
Byakko knelt down behind Shiori and grabbed  
her wrists before Shiori could throw another rock.   
Byakko applied pressure to the human's joints  
until Shiori was forced to drop the stone in her  
hand.  
  
"Leave me alone!" Shiori screamed as she  
tried to break Byakko's hold. "Don't touch me!  
Don't ever touch me!"  
  
Byakko turned Shiori around and made that  
woman lay her head against her shoulder. The  
human struggled, leaving bloody finger prints on  
the front of Byakko's white robe and grass stains  
on her own dress, but soon Shiori broke down into  
huge sobs.  
  
"Why did you show me this? Why did you do  
this to me? Why couldn't you have left me alone?"  
Shiori cried into Byakko's shoulder.  
  
"I would have, Shiori." Byakko told her as  
she slowly stroked the sobbing woman's back. "I  
would have let you live your short life never  
knowing Shuuichi's secret, but Inari wouldn't  
allow it."  
  
"What do you mean?" Shiori asked pulling away  
from Byakko.  
  
"Just like the stars must go out when the sun  
rises, the wishes a fox grants must have a trick  
behind them. The trick I played on you was that  
your son isn't completely human. Inari said that  
it wasn't a true trick until you knew about it, so  
he made me tell you."  
  
"You mean Inari, as in the god?" Shiori  
gasped.  
  
Byakko chuckled and grinned. "Do you know  
another Inari?" she asked with a wink.  
  
"He wanted you to tell me about 'that'?"  
Shiori asked with a shudder as she pointed at the  
lake.  
  
Byakko frowned and looked deeply into  
Shiori's eyes.   
  
"There's something else I want to show you  
about your son," she said as she pulled Shiori to  
stand beside her.  
  
" 'That'... is *not* my son," Shiori  
proclaimed as she tried to keep from being lead to  
the lake. "He never was my son."  
  
Byakko dragged Shiori along with her and made  
the human sit on the boulder she had been sitting  
on earlier. The white youko knelt on the ground  
beside Shiori and took the angry woman's chin in  
her hand and made her look at the lake.  
  
"Are you sure about that, Shiori?" Byakko  
asked as she placed her slender fingers in the  
water, making it ripple and change reflections.  
========  
end part two 


	3. 

The cruel gold eyes of the grown youko were  
replaced with the topaz eyes of a young silver fox  
kit. The pale little creature was pouncing on  
yellow flowers that grew a few feet apart from  
each other as if he were trying to surprise them.   
After a few minutes he became bored with that game  
and focused his attention on a white butterfly  
that was flitting above his head.  
  
Shiori found herself smiling as she watched  
the kit jump and snap at the elusive insect. On  
one ill fated leap the kit lost his footing when  
he landed and his short muzzle was driven into the  
dirt. Shiori giggled when he lifted his head  
sneezing repeatedly to clear the dirt from his  
nose.  
  
"Kurama!"  
  
Shiori jumped at the yell she could hear  
clearly though the surface of the water. The kit  
turned his head toward the sound and then changed  
shape to that of a little youko boy. He picked  
one of the yellow flowers that he had been jumping  
on earlier and raced over to the youko that had  
called him.  
  
"Jaki, Look what I..."   
  
Kurama never got to give his blossom before  
the back of the youko's hand cracked against his  
cheek. Shiori cried out in distress and reached  
for the boy before she remember that she was  
watching the past. Events that were beyond her  
power to change.  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop  
that damn playing around when you have work to do?   
Shit, no wonder your mother couldn't stand raise  
you. I would have left a piece a shit like you to  
die too if I didn't need another worker."  
  
Jaki left the crying young Kurama to tend to  
his own bleeding lip. Kurama wiped the blood onto  
his dirty sleeve as he crushed the little flower  
he had picked for the youko in his small fist.   
His wide, young eyes narrowed into a glare as he  
watched Jaki walk away. When Kurama got to his  
feet to follow, the crumbled flower fell to the  
ground forgotten.  
  
The images didn't stop there. Shiori sat  
stunned and horrified at the events that were  
being replayed before her eyes. She watched  
Kurama grow and change over the long, empty years.   
Shiori saw some of the most depraved and sickening  
things happen to that silver youko that used to  
chase butterflies in a field. He stopped smiling  
with pleasure by the time he was ten and by  
thirteen he stopped crying when he was hit. By  
fifteen he was the one doing the hitting. By  
seventeen he was one of the best and cruelest  
thieves in the Makai.  
  
She also saw all the things he did to others  
when his heart had hardened and died in his chest.   
Kurama didn't care if he lived or died and  
consequently, he didn't care about others either.   
A few times there was a companion that he seemed  
to reach out to but they either rejected him,  
died, or betrayed him.  
  
Kurama grew into the most cold and ruthless  
killer Shiori could imagine. He was handsome,  
almost beautiful with his gorgeous silver hair  
falling past his shoulders, but his heart was dead  
and his soul empty of feeling. Shiori felt her  
own heart brake and weep for the loss of the boy  
that never had a chance to live.   
  
"What kind of mother leaves her son to  
jackals like that?" Shiori asked as she turned  
towards Byakko.  
  
"One that was too young and too naive to know  
any better," Byakko whispered as she looked  
blankly out over the water. "One that was foolish  
and went where she shouldn't have. One that let  
herself be raped by one of the temple guards."  
  
Shiori stared at the beautiful youko that was  
torturing herself with self hatred and intense  
remorse. She tried to go to her to comfort her,  
because she knew the pain of losing a child,  
feeling that it was all your fault, but Byakko put  
her hand up stopping her.  
  
"I have spent the last 400 years morning the  
loss of my son, Shiori, please don't make me spend  
eternity morning the loss of the second childhood  
I've tried to give him."  
  
Shiori could do nothing but watch Byakko cry  
silent tears as the youko started her own tale.  
  
"I was suppose to be one of the chosen ones.   
A white youko is only born once a millennium and  
they are all taken to Inari's temple to become  
priests and priestesses. For 500 years I was  
trained in the service of my lord and when I was  
done they told me I was the best they had ever  
seen. Worthy enough to become a goddess myself."  
  
Byakko gave a bitter laugh and savagely wiped  
at the tears on her face.   
  
"I was young, arrogant and foolish, thinking  
that nothing could hurt me. I went with that  
guard believing him when he said that Inari wanted  
me to see him outside in the middle of the night."  
  
Byakko wrapped her arms around herself and  
began to rub them as if she were trying to ward  
off a chill. She suddenly stopped and gripped the  
sleeves of her robe fiercely, her talons going  
through the thin material easily to pierce her  
skin. Her sparkling white garment stared to turn  
red as the blood from her palm soaked into the  
material.  
  
"It happened so fast, even now I can't  
remember all of what happened. I was too  
frightened to fight, too stunned to scream. He  
left the temple that night and I never saw him  
again, but he left me something to remember him  
by."  
  
Byakko finally turned towards Shiori and the  
human woman could see the fear and pain that was  
still staining the youko's soul. The tear tracks  
under Byakko's eyes, the blood on her hands and  
the snow white of her silk robe made the youko  
look like a painting of a Christian angel Shiori  
had once seen.  
  
"I tried to hide my pregnancy for as long as  
I could, but the moment that I was brought before  
Inari he knew. He told me that he could no longer  
take me as his goddess, but that I was too special  
to just throw away."  
  
Byakko reached out and grabbed Shiori's hands  
and held them with a grip that was painful.  
  
"They tried to kill him, Shiori. They wanted  
to 'take care of my problem'. I screamed and  
yelled for days when they tried to make my body  
give him up, but I was stronger than they were."  
  
She laughed bitterly and loosened her hold on  
Shiori.  
  
"I was the best they had seen in ten  
millennium, they couldn't take him from me, but  
they could trick me. Oh, how they tricked me.   
They told me that he would be happy someplace  
where no one knew 'what' he was. They talked  
about him like he was a disease. Like he was  
worse than trash because of his silver hair. So I  
believed them and let them take my son from me  
thinking that they would take care of him."  
  
Byakko's eyes went blank again, reliving  
memories. Shiori knew that tears were falling  
down her face but she didn't care. She was now  
mourning the loss that was Byakko's motherhood.   
Shiori had lost five children before Shuuichi and  
she mourned each of their deaths, but she had  
never held them and then lost them. She knew that  
the pain she felt at her own loss was lessened  
because she had Shuuichi to comfort her.   
  
Shiori felt her heart fill with shame at how  
easily she was willing to throw all the love she  
felt for Shuuichi aside because she found out he  
was different. He had been her only joy, her  
light in the dark, her only anchor over the years  
since her husband died and she had almost thrown  
it all away.  
  
All the little quirks that she had thought  
strange but charming started to make sense to her.   
Shuuichi's reluctance to cry, his resolve that he  
could do everything by himself, the strange way he  
would look at her when she told him stories, or  
gave him sweets. He hadn't known how to love or  
how to respond to being loved and had been working  
his way through, trying to figure it out.  
  
"He loves you Shiori. Please don't push him  
away," Byakko begged. "I chose you to be his  
mother. I *killed* my own son so that you could  
be the one to raise him again in the love that I  
couldn't give him."  
  
Shiori shrank back in shock at Byakko's  
confession, but the youko's eyes were so filled  
with pain and longing that Shiori couldn't judge  
her actions. Byakko had done what she had thought  
was the only way to fix the damage and pain that  
had been done to her son.  
  
"Won't Inari be mad that you haven't truly  
tricked me like a proper fox?" Shiori asked with a  
weak grin.  
  
"Probably, but if you think he'll be mad over  
this, just wait until he finds out how I 'tricked'  
the Koorimei that wished for me to watch out over  
her son!" Byakko laughed with merriment and  
mischief.  
  
A thick white fog quickly rolled up from the  
lake and enveloped Shiori in it's cool wet depths.   
She blinked her eyes several times before she  
started to see her own back yard and the dry  
laundry on the line. Most of the day had gone by  
and the sun had done it's work and the clothes  
rolled gently in the breeze.   
  
Shiori felt a sense of time loss and  
disorientation when the mist totally cleared. She  
didn't hear her son frantically calling for her  
until he was standing right beside her.  
  
"Mother, are you all right? I've been  
calling for you. Is something wrong?" Kurama  
asked worriedly as he placed his hands on his  
mother's shoulders.  
  
Shiori looked down at her hands and the dirt  
and sand that had caused her nails to bleed was  
gone, along with the blood. There were no grass  
stains on her clothes from when she struggled with  
Byakko on the ground after she found out about  
Shuuichi's secret. She started to wonder if she  
had dreamed the whole thing when she caught the  
scent of sweet almonds on the wind and the sound  
of chimes made of sea shells laughing in the  
distance.  
  
"No, nothing is wrong Shuuichi. I was just  
wondering what you would look like with long  
hair," she whispered absently as she walked passed  
her son.  
  
Kurama narrowed his eyes slightly, not  
believing his mother, but then they widened when  
he realized what she had just said. He put his  
hand to the back of his neck and ruffled the short  
clipped hairs there. He grinned at the idea of  
being able to grew it long again like it used to  
be. The thought that something had been wrong with  
his mother vanished as he thought about that  
prospect.   
  
Shiori waited at the back door for her son to  
come inside. He walked past her, his emerald eyes  
smiling and a bounce in his step. She smiled at  
his retreating back and leaned against the door  
jam looking out at the back yard. She closed her  
eyes and listened. In the background noise of the  
city, Shiori could hear a whispering on the wind  
that hadn't been there before.   
  
She opened her eyes and saw that her clothes  
line was being taken over with white roses. They  
twisted and writhed their way up the poles on  
either end of the line and made their way across  
the wire to meet in the middle. Shiori had no  
clue how she was going to untangle her laundry,  
but she thought that it would be easier than it  
looked, because there were no thorns on the roses.   
  
========  
Notes:  
Inari: Originally the God of Rice, and later (11th  
century) associated with the Fox God.  
  
Attributes of a fox in Japanese legends:  
--They have, and use, the power of transformation  
and of transmutation to delude humans. This is  
usually done in a woman's form.  
--If the shadow of a fox-woman falls on water only  
the fox will be seen.  
--If a dog sees a fox-woman the feminine form  
vanishes.   
--Inari sometimes poses as a beneficent being, a  
being who can cure coughs and colds, bring wealth  
to the needy, and answer a woman's prayer for a  
child.^_-  
--Inari frequently rewards human beings for any  
act of kindness to a fox, put only part of his  
reward is real. At least one tempting coin is  
bound to turn quickly to grass.  
  
These are about the only good things you'll hear  
about foxes in Japanese myth. I could fill a book  
on all the *bad* things foxes are known to do, but  
I chose to write the good stuff. :p All of these  
statements were hashed together with my own  
memories of the stories I was told and from a book  
called "Myths and Legends of Japan" by F. Hadland  
Davis.  
  
end 


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